Oscillating toy



Dec. 23, 1952 A, ABPLANALP 2,622,366

OSCILLATING TOY Filed Oct. 3l, 1949 /NVENTO/Q 1 lL-, ATTORNEYS PatentedDec. 23, 1952 UNITED STATES Application October 31, 1949, Serial No.124,558 In Great Britain November 1, 1948 4 Claims.

This invention relates to toys.

The object of the invent-ion is to provide an amusing and attractive toywhich can be simply and cheaply produced.

With this object in view a toy made according to the invention comprisesa resilient metal strip shaped to simulate a gure, means for fixedlyanchoring said strip at one end, said means comprising a support and alooped member secured to said support, one end of said strip engagingfreely so as to be detachably retained in said looped member, a magnetmounted on the other end of said metal strip, and means connected tosaid metal strip for oscillating said strip about its fixed anchorage,whereby said magnet can be -caused to pick up a metal object from asurface adjacent to the xed anchorage.

The resilient member may be shaped to simulate a figure, the endcarrying the magnet being shaped to suit the figure.

The resilient member may .comprise a metal strip or a coil of wire, orit may be made partly of resilient material and partly of non-resilientor rigid material, but so that it is iiexible as a whole.

The resilient member may be made to simulate an animal, e. g. a bird,and the magnet may be made to simulate the animals mouth, e. g. a birdsbeak, or an extension thereof. Two magnets may be provided forming,respectively, the upper and lower parts of the open mouth or beak, orextensions thereof.

The metal objects to be picked up may also have the outline of animals,e. g. iishes, and may be spread out in a box or container simulating thenatural habitat of such animals, e. g. in the case of shes the box orcontainer may simulate a pond.

The accompanying drawing illustrates how the invention may be carriedinto eiect. Referring to the drawing a thin metal strip Tse in width isbent so as to form' a substantially horizontal end or base portion ||l1and an upwardly extending arcuate body portion ||l2 which towards itsother or top end is bent backwards into a loop I (i3, the free end thenextending forwardly somewhat beyond the closed loop and being force-ttedinto a slit in the rear end of a piece of wood l I, which is shaped andpainted to simulate the head of a bird, e. g., a duck, having an openbeak l2. Two bar magnets I3, |13 are secured respectively to the top andbottom parts of the open beak and project in front thereof. The arcuatebody portion |02 of the metal strip has attached thereto and on theoutside thereof, a feather or the like I5, to cause this portion tosimulate the feathered body of a bird.

A short metal strip l5 of similar width is riveted at one end to themain flexible strip adjacent to the base portion HG1 thereof over whichit extends. This short strip I6 is bent upwards at an acute angle to thebase portion and is referred to hereafter as the operating strip.

The device above described is detachably mounted on a base i7 to whichissecured a metal plate I8, screwed at its four corners to the base.Opposite sides ci the metal plate are in contact with the base, but thecentral part of the plate is raised slightly above the surface of thebase just sufficiently to allow the base portion |01 of the resilientmember to be forcibly inserted between the metal plate i8 and base Il,the operating strip I6 then extending over the metal plate.

With the particular form of the device above described, the objects tobe picked up by the magnet beak of the device are metal blanks 2E!having the outline for example, of fishes, which may be contained in acontainer simulating, for example, a pond, or which may be placed freelyon a table or like surface.

In use, the container with the metal blanks therein, or the metal blankswhen not in a container, is placed adjacent to the base plate l1 and sothat when the head swings down it will enter the container, or will bedisposed over the metal blanks on the table. The operating strip is thenrepeatedly depressed and produces an oscillation of the resilient stripabout its anchorage to the base. After a few oscillations the magnetbeak will approach, or impinge on the metal blanks, one or more of whichwill be attracted to and magnetically retained on the magnet beak. Inthe drawing the normal position of the toy is shown in full lines, andthe two end positions of an oscillation are shown in broken lines.

The actual construction of the device may be modified in many ways.Thus, in one modification, the resilient member comprises a closelycoiled wire with a suitably shaped rigid head piece. In anothermodiii-cation the resilient member comprises a lower part of metalstrip, a rigid shaped body part, e. g. of plywood, a neck portioncomprising a closely coiled wire, and a shaped rigid head piece.

Other forms of operating members may also be provided, or theoscillation may be set up by digital pressure on the back of theflexible member, no special operating member then being necessary.

Playing with the toy will teach children to apply the operating pressurein rhythm with the natural period of oscillation of the resilientmember, and skill in the use of the game can be determined by the timetaken to pick up all the metal objects.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. An oscillating toy comprising a resilient metal strip shaped tosimulate a ligure, means for xedly anchoring said strip at one end, saidmeans comprising a support and a looped member secured to said support,one end of said strip engaging freely so as to be detachably retained insaid looped member, magnet means mounted at the other end of said metalstrip and operating means connected to said metal strip for oscillatingsaid strip about its fixed anchorage, whereby said magnet means can becaused to pick up a metal object from a surface `adjacent to the iixedanchorage.

2. A toy as claimed in claim 1 further cornprising a head piecesimulating the head of an animal and forming an extension of the end ofsaid metal strip on which said magnet means are mounted, said magnetmeans being arranged to simulate the animals mouth or beak.

3. A toy as claimed in claim 1 in which said metal strip is shaped tosimulate a birds body 4 and further comprising a head piece simulatingthe head of a bird and forming an extension of the end of said metalstrip on which said magnet means are mounted, said magnet meanscomprising two magnets fixed in the headpiece so as to simulate theupper and lower parts of a birds beak.

4. A toy according to claim 1 in which said operating means comprises anoperating strip xed at one end to the resilient metal strip adjacent theend thereof which engages in said looped member, the opposite end ofsaid operating strip being depressible to oscillate the resilient metalstrip about its fixed anchorage.

ARTHUR ABPLANALP.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the i-lle ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 278,461 Screven May 29, 1883932,988 Larson Aug. 3l, 1909 1,422,075 Aronson July 11, 1922 1,833,421Hose Nov. 24, 1931 2,277,672 Stone Mar. 31, 1942 2,484,343 Hawes Oct.11, 1949

